Stamps self destruct as Roughriders roll to Grey Cup with a 35-13 triumph in CFL Western final

Vicki Hall, Calgary Herald11.17.2013

Riders running back Kory Sheets holds on to the ball under pressure from Stamps defender Cordarro Law on Sunday. Saskatchewan churned out 248 yards on the ground, most of that by Sheets, as they completely crushed Calgary.

Maurice Price shielded his eyes as he ran to the safety of the Calgary Stampeders dressing room to avoid witnessing a scene that might haunt him for years to come.

Thousands of Saskatchewan Roughrider fans — some waving green pompoms, some wearing carved-out watermelons for hats, some slipping down stairs due to extreme Pilsner consumption — turned McMahon Stadium into their personal party zone in the wake of a 35-13 victory for the road side in the West Division Final.

Inside the Calgary clubhouse, the sound of water running in the showers cut through the uneasy silence in the quarters of a first-place team that choked when it really counted.

Again.

“I tried to get off the field as fast as I could so I wouldn’t have to see it,” Price muttered. “Nothing went right for us tonight.”

“It felt like it wasn’t meant to be for some reason. Everything that could go wrong, pretty much did."

Not to take anything away from Saskatchewan — the vastly superior team on this night — but the Stampeders self-destructed in ridiculous fashion before a bipartisan gathering 33,174 in the winter chill.

In fact, the guys in red authored an instructional manual on how to cough up a Grey Cup berth in 30 minutes or less.

In the opening 30 minutes, the Stamps turned the ball over four times, with two of those gifts coming on fumbles to negate huge gains by Price and Jeff Fuller.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn is best known for his ability to manage games and take care of the football. He threw two picks. Tailback Jon Cornish is a lock to win the CFL’s most outstanding player award. He carried the ball four times for a grand total of one yard in the opening two quarters.

Come halftime, the Riders held a commanding 22-6 lead on touchdowns by Weston Dressler, Chris Getzlaf and Rob Bagg along with rouge by Ricky Schmitt. Calgary’s Rene Paredes replied with two field goals the home side.

“It’s tough,” said Glenn, who completed seven-of-13 passes for 185 yards and two interceptions. “You go from the highest high to the lowest low. And right now, it’s pretty low.”

Collectively, the Stamps established new lows across the board.

The unsightly numbers tell the story: seven turnovers for Calgary compared to just one for Saskatchewan. Time of possession: 40:42 for Saskatchewan as opposed to 19:18 for Calgary. Saskatchewan registered 31 first downs. Calgary moved the sticks just 10 times.

And on and on it went.

“Our offence didn’t play well enough,” murmured Stamps head coach/general manager John Hufnagel. “Our defence didn’t play well enough, and our special teams didn’t play well enough.”

Fiery Drew Tate roared out of the dressing room at halftime and took command of the huddle for Calgary. Known for coming up big when it counts the most, Tate unleashed a 28-yard bomb to Brad Sinopoli.

Like Fuller and Price before him, Sinopoli fumbled and Saskatchewan recovered. The image of the Calgary receiver pounding the turf in disgust told the story of the game right there.

Not one to give up without a fight, Tate found Joe West streaking across the middle for a 46-yard touchdown to narrow the Saskatchewan lead to 22-13.But in the end, the Stamps — desperately thin minus starting defensive tackles Micah Johnson and Demonte’ Bolden — simply failed to contain the potent ground attack.

Kory Sheets (177 rushing yards) and Sanders (61 rushing yards) pounded over and through the Calgary defence like a combine threshing wheat.

In contrast, Stamps running back Jon Cornish carried the ball just nine times for 67 yards in an offence that stalled more than 1973 Volkswagen Beatle in a Calgary winter.

“We had turnovers, but you’ve got to give Saskatchewan credit,” Cornish said. “They came out, and they played an incredible game. They were able to take advantage of our weaknesses.”

With 4:26 on the clock, the Riders sealed the victory, predictably, by recovering another Calgary fumble — this one by kick returner Larry Taylor. With that, Chris Milo kicked his second of the field goal and Sheets ran in his first touchdown to pad the score.

And so the Stamps, after finishing first in the West with a glittering record of 14-4, are left to conduct a post-mortem on another promising campaign gone poof in the playoffs.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before.

“We won 14 games, and that’s a lot of wins,” Price mumbled. “For it to end like this?”

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Stamps self destruct as Roughriders roll to Grey Cup with a 35-13 triumph in CFL Western final

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